L.U.R.K. wants to provide the most atmospheric experience from S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and one of the most important aspect in immersion and atmosphere is presentation, and we by no means plan to overlook such an aspect. Weather plays one of the largest roles in providing an aesthetic experience that will immerse the user into The Zone.

Immersion has always been an important aspect of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., if not the defining characteristic that separates it from any game in it's genre. That's why it was important to us to craft a convoluted, deep, unpredictable, realistic, and most of all, appealing weather system.

The first defining characteristic if L.U.R.K.'s weather is it's dynamic flow. We've kicked up the cycles from one static, repeating 24 hour cycle, to seven hand crafted 24 hour cycles, shifting between one another in real time.

Nights are more dark and foreboding then ever before. Cloudy nights obscure any source of natural light, and bathe the world in complete darkness. With only your flashlight and your PDA Map to guide you through the Zone's treacherous paths.

There are TONS of hills in the real Zone.
The Exclusion Zone isn't just Chernobyl, it's Pripyat, the Red Forests, it extends from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, from Korosten in Ukraine, to Mogilev in Belarus, Kimovo in Russia.
So, you're REALLY telling me, out of those THOUSANDS of miles that there isn't one, single hill in that area?
Nonesense.
There are hills, and most of them the Red Forest sits ontop of.Nsrl.ttu.edu

I gotta remind ya that last time the night darkness was nearly impossible... unless in an extremely dense forest.
There's always 'some' light, be it not much, but not completely pitch black like it was before.

Did you fix the 'retardation' AI effect when it turns dark yet?
Ya know, that they only see you when in any other game it'd count as a TELEFRAG kill.

Terrain still isn't bright enough relative to the sky, I see. Seriously, I live in Bumfuck, Iceland and despite the high angle to the sun here (66°), I've never seen a day where such a bright sunlight could reflect so poorly upon the ground I stand on.

Anyone who does not realise this has not stepped outside in at least a decade.